Business Strategies for Entering a New Market Segment Employed by a Large Bank: Development of Strategic Marketing Solutions

The master's thesis is dedicated to the development of a marketing strategy for a large Kazakh bank's entry into the new market segment of micro and small businesses (MSMEs). Currently, the bank does not single out MSMEs as a separate category and has no experience working with this segment. The research goal is to increase the share of new and "active" bank customers in the MSME segment by 20% by the end of 2024 through the development and implementation of a new marketing strategy, which will ensure a 20% increase in net profit compared to the previous year. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to analyze the preferences and expectations of the target audience, identify the bank's competitive advantages, develop a unique value proposition and positioning, as well as evaluate and select the optimal marketing strategy option. The research methodology is based on the study of secondary (desk research) and primary data sources (empirical research, including an online survey based on insights from in-depth interviews). The research results confirmed the usefulness of the B2B marketplace for micro and small businesses. Segmentation of the target audience identified two promising segments: "beginners" and "developing". Based on the data obtained, two alternative marketing strategies are proposed: creating a B2B marketplace and providing subscription-based consulting services.